How Much Screen Time for Kids in 2025: What Every Parent Needs to Know
How much screen time is too much for my child?
On some days, handing your child an iPad feels like the only way to get a moment of peace — and that’s okay. On other days, keeping devices off-limits until they reach their teenage years might seem like the better path. Parenting is rarely about absolutes. When it comes to technology use and children, the difficulty lies in finding a balance between nurturing curiosity and setting boundaries.
Across cultures, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to raising children.
Where does this leave us in practical terms? Should a one-year-old engage with an iPad? What about interacting with a robot equipped with voice recognition?
Rethinking Guidelines and The Lag in Scientific Research
Guidelines from organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics provide a useful starting point:
- Under 18 months: Limit screen use to video chatting with an adult.
- 18–24 months: Focus on educational content, co-viewed with a caregiver.
- Ages 2–5: Cap non-educational screen time at one hour per weekday and three hours on weekends.
- Ages 6 and up: Encourage healthy habits and limit excessive screen-based activities.
These recommendations, while helpful, are increasingly out of sync with the rapid evolution of technology. The pace of research in psychology, human-computer interaction (HCI), and education is struggling to keep up with innovations in Silicon Valley and beyond. We could gather 50 young children today to test an AI app, but by the time we analyze the results three years later, the app will have already evolved, rendering the findings less relevant.
Understanding the long-term effects of technology on child development takes time — often years, if not decades. Yet technology evolves so quickly that researchers are always playing catch-up.
Emotional Intelligence Matters
We can see now that controlling how much time children spend on gadgets might feel like a solution, but it’s a short-term fix. Technology will continue to evolve. What is within our control is how our kids interact with the screens. Emotional and Social Intelligence when it comes to interacting with technology is the key.
The question isn’t how much time kids spend with screens — it’s how they’re engaging with them. No amount of restricting will help prevent overuse if we do not help children develop the skills for self-control and boundary setting.
Practical Tips
- Teach children how to set physical boundaries with Tech: Protecting children’s eyesight by teaching them how to take screen breaks and set up appropriate lighting. Guide them in actively take movement breaks when using gadgets. Teach kids to look up from the screen and to rest their eyes and to sit up straight when using devices.
- Create Screen Time Windows: Create windows instead of a set time. This approach helps kids view screen time as an abundant activity — something they can enjoy again tomorrow — rather than a scarce resource they feel compelled to overindulge in.
- Design Alternatives: Offer interesting, non-digital options to fill downtime, like puzzles, crafts, or outdoor play. Make activities as exciting as possible to reduce screen dependency.
- Don’t Control — encourage sharing instead: Foster a habit of excitement and curiosity by inviting your child to share what they learned. Rather than focusing on control, it becomes an opportunity to connect their interests.
Reflection Questions for Adults:
- What values would you like to cultivate in your child and what kinds of technologies can support you in achieving this?
- How do you model your own relationship with technology, and what message does that send to your child?
A Note on Artificial Intelligence and Children
AI will evolve to be your child’s friend.
Kids will interact with machines like their interact with their best friend in school. This human-AI connection is already taking shape and I believe it will help children’s mental well-being for the better.
Follow Happy Machines to future-proof your child and students in the age of Artificial Intelligence.
About Cristine Zen
Cristine Zen holds a Master’s degree in Psychology, specializing in the intersection of Technology and Mental Wellbeing. She has over a decade of experience in Tech, working with billion-dollar companies to design global events and campaigns. In parallel, her work in Neuroscience and Psychology research labs in the U.S. and Taiwan has shaped her mission to enhance children’s wellbeing in an ever-evolving digital world. She is dedicated to advancing Digital Emotional Learning, a framework that integrates Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) and Technology Literacy. Cristine is a TEDx France speaker on the topic of Third Culture Kids.
